Alaska

30 DAYS OF NIGHT-2007-In Barrow, Alaska the residents experience a period where there's 30 days of total night. Most leave but some stay including the sheriff (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife (Melissa George). Too bad for them because a bunch of ancient vampires lead by Marlow (Danny Huston) descend on the place. This senseless violent mean spirited mess is based on a comic book..oops..sorry graphic novel but it seems more influenced by 28 DAYS LATER than anything else. 

Director David Slade started off making music videos. His first film was HARD CANDY and later he made the 3^rd entry into the TWILIGHT series. After that he produced the TV shows HANNIBAL and AMERICAN GODS.

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England Makes Bad Horror Movies Too!

GHOST MACHINE-2009-More suckness from England. This time an evil spirit terrorizes some losers involved in a kind of virtual reality military training. Director Chris Hartwill worked on a couple of episodes of the TV show “Numbers” before making this. An American actor Sean Faris is the star.

Thanks for reading this short and unprofessional review about a movie I really had no use for and shouldn't have watched in the first place!

Silent House

SILENT HOUSE-2011-A father (Adam Trese) and his daughter Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) try to restore their rundown old family house with the help of Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens), the man's brother. After nothing much happens the girl starts to hear strange noises. And when her father goes to investigate he disappears. She starts to see visions of a little girl and is pursued by an unseen figure. Despite the real time premise and use of long unedited scenes there's not much going on in the confused plot leading up to an un-supernatural ending. 

Star Olsen was later in the 2014 remake of GODZILLA and plays The Scarlet Witch in several Marvel Comics related movies. This was made by the husband and wife team of Chris Kentis and Laura Lau who did the excellent and much better OPEN WATER and is actually a remake of LA CASA MUDA made in Uruguay in 2010.

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Back To Silents

SOULS FOR SALE-1923-"Moving picture" about a young woman Mem (Eleanor Boardman) who escapes her unhappy marriage to a murderous con-man by jumping off a train. She wanders around aimlessly but is rescued by an actor named Kolby (Frank Mayo) dressed as a sheikh when she passes out on a movie shoot. He takes a shine to her but a famous director Frank Claymore (Richard Dix) takes Mem under his wing and uses her in his epic circus tale when his famous star is injured. Mem is plagued by uncertainty about her talent to replace a big star but succeeds despite religiously bent parents who hate Hollywood and the return of her no good husband. The climax features hubby trying to kill the director with a giant wind machine while a fire rages on the circus set. 

SOULS FOR SALE is a kind of standard poor girl makes good love story drama with a guessable twist and good acting and production but what makes it a standout is the 'film within a film" setting where many silent screen stars and directors appear as themselves including Erich Von Stroheim directing a scene from GREED! Mae Busch, Snitz Edwards and William Haines are also in it. Star Boardman was very popular at the time (she made her last film in 1935) and starred in King Vidor's THE CROWD and TELL IT TO THE MARINES with Lon Chaney. 

Director/screen adapter Rupert Hughes was the uncle of Howard Hughes...

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The Wong and Only!

THE FATAL HOUR-1940-After his friend Dan Grady is killed, Captain Bill Street (Grant Withers) teams up with Asian sleuth Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff; didn't know he was Chinese, did ya?) to find the killer. Meanwhile female reporter Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) returns from the previous Wong mystery and tries to help. This entry, the fourth of six King Karloff made for Monogram features a lot of sub-plots involving jade smuggling, a radio broadcast and suspects galore but not enough Karloff! As with all of them William Nigh directed and Scott Darling wrote it.

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Daring Drug Expose'

MARIHUANA-1936-More REEFER MADNESS influenced anti drug mania with two sleazy grass peddlers who recruit a woman (Harley Wood) to help them push weed after the boyfriend who impregnated her is killed in a drug smuggling operation. Later they kidnap her sister's child and hold her for ransom until she learns it's actually her child! Another badly acted morality tale from exploitation master Dwain Esper, the director of MANIAC and HOW TO UNDRESS IN FRONT OF YOUR HUSBAND.

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More Found Footage

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY-2007-Did you ever see one of those obviously phony "paranormal" or "poltergeist" videos on YouTube? Well this "found footage" ghost/horror story is just like one except it's longer and more boring! A couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) believe their house is haunted and decide to film the goings on. Most of it is talking, false scares, lights going on and off and strange noises. The wife seems to be possessed at times. Can't see how this could get a major release and spawn sequels! But it did! 

Director Oren Peli also made the equally disappointing THE CHERNOBYL DIARIES.

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